Arguably the first papers published in simulation appeared around 50 years ago.  As time passes, so does the opportunity to record and archive important events that occurred in our discipline.  In the last few years several reflective review articles have been published that chronicle some of our collective history. However, and very excitingly, two important initiatives have started.  These are the Simulation Archive hosted by North Carolina State University and the ACM Committee on History.

Simulation Archive

Hosted by North Carolina State University, SIGSIM is co-sponsorship this important project that is archiving information on key figures in simulation.  An example of this is the archive for Professor Robert Sargent.  More will appear here soon.

ACM Committee on History

As stated on the committee's website...

"ACM is the world's oldest and largest educational and scientific computing society. Since 1947 ACM has provided a vital forum for the exchange of information, ideas, and discoveries. Today, ACM serves a membership of computing professionals and students in more than 100 countries in all areas of industry, academia, and government." (Quoting ACM.org)

The History Committee's purpose, as stated in our charter, is to foster preservation and interpretation of the history of the ACM and its role in the development of computing.

SIGSIM is working with the CoH to support this preservation with respect to simulation.  One of the activities that the CoH supports is to record and analyse interviews with significant community figures.  The degree to which SIGSIM can support this depends directly on budget.  However, we hope to bring together an outline plan in the next few months and bring in vital historical content to the ACM DL.  For more details contact the SIGSIM Chair.